Let’s begin a bit off the subject. This colorful poster helps kids understand the Presidential election process. It is from a government website (here) that purports to tell us how someone becomes president. “Love” this item.

How to Change the Electoral CollegeBecause the Electoral College process is part of the U.S. Constitution, it would be necessary to pass a Constitutional amendment to change this system. For more information, contact your U.S. Senator or your U.S. Representative.

That’s a not so veiled hint that the system actually needs to be changed, and that partisan hint is on a government website.

In the first post we focused on the chapters that speak to Trump’s proposals on immigration and foreign policy. National defense is the primary job of the president. Although the Constitution gives the Federal Government other responsibilities, national defense falls squarely on the Federal Government, and the president has the leading role. If the president gets our foreign policy and national defense wrong, he can do horrendous damage. Just look at the mess President Barack Hussein Obama is making.

Here we will take in a more sweeping view of Trump’s book, Chapters 5 – 9.

5: Education: A Failing Grade

Unlike some Republicans, Trump does not promise to be the “education president.” He promises to scrap Common Core. He will try to scrap the Department of Education and return education back to the local governments. Furthermore, he advocates school choice. Trump clearly does not like the teacher unions and their relentless opposition to school choice.

Trump’s position on the role of the Federal Government in college-level education is ambiguous. He sort describes the problem, but he does not explain why the cost of a college education is rising out of reach. He has next to nothing to say about a solution.

6: The Energy Debate: A Lot Of Hot Air

Trump clearly does not believe that global warming is real or man-made. He also does not think alternative energy sources are viable. So he supports oil and gas development. That’s good, but, curiously, he has nothing — NOTHING — to say about coal.

7: Health Care Is Making Us All Sick

Trump wants to repeal and replace Obamacare. He cites Obama’s lies (You cannot keep your doctor.), the increasing costs, the fact doctors are quitting, and the enormous paperwork as reasons to get rid of it. Trump emphatically rejects a single-payer system, admitting his earlier support. Trump uses the supposed success of such a system in Scotland to justify his earlier support.

So what does Trump want to replace Obamacare? That’s not clear. Trump wants to cover those who cannot afford health care, and he wants to permit interstate competition between health insurance companies. His plan for replacing Obamacare comes down to negotiating a deal with Congress.

8: It’s Still The Economy, Stupid

What this chapter says loud and clear is that Donald Trump is the solution for fixing the American economy. How will he fix the economy? He will make good deals.

To give Trump credit:

He does advocate the free market.

He advocates reforming a tax code that is biased towards the rich (what he means by biased towards the rich is not clear). Here is his tax plan.

He advocates reduced regulation.

He is seriously worried about the national debt and cites $20 trillion as a threshold we must not exceed.

He does not want to give illegal aliens “entitlements.”

He promises to keep jobs from going overseas.

On the other hand, his “solution”:

For social security and medicare spending is to grow the economy.

For jobs going overseas is to fight for them with better trade agreements and by preventing currency manipulation.

9: Nice Guys Can Finish First

The chapter is all about how Donald Trump is a great guy who fights fearlessly and gets thing done. It includes at the end a section that says Trump is now a true Conservative. He compares himself to Ronald Reagan.

Is Trump a Conservative? This video certainly suggest that at one time not too long ago he was not.

The problem? Trump does not have a record. Other than the fact he says he is a Conservative, how do we know?

General Observations

Trump is selling himself as the solution. From time to time he will speak of a philosophy, but he is selling himself, not a philosophy. He is selling the idea that he is a winner, that he knows how to win.

Does Trump have a conscience? I hope so, but make no mistake. Trump’s emphasis is on winning, not virtue. The man spends a bunch of time whining about a rigged system. Meanwhile, when compared to the percentage of the vote he has earned, he has a hugely disproportionate share of the delegates, and he has gotten a ridiculous amount of news media coverage.

Do you want to vote for someone with a track record, someone we can trust to govern as a Conservative, someone who actually is outside of our increasingly corrupt political system? Then do your homework. Check out Ted Cruz, and look at where he stands on the Issues.

Consider also who has endorsed Cruz, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah (see here and here).

22 thoughts on “CAN DONALD TRUMP DELIVER ON HIS PROMISES?”

Jobs is still the number one issue of concern based on voter polls. Not part time jobs that pay minimum wage, and are purposely less than 40 hours a week so employers do not have to pay benefit.

What will Cruz do other than offer the same oh solution of reducing Corporate taxes to make US exports supposedly more competitive in global markets.

Problem is that although the Corporate Tax rate is 35 percent, Corporations on average only pay ten percent taxes after they take all their tax deductions. Then the pass on the taxes expense to their customers in the form of a increased price. The result is if Cruz tax plan did reduce US exports, someone in the US will have to pay higher taxes to make up for the reduced Corporate taxes.

Ironically, when a Corporation shuts down a plant in the US and moves US production of their products to other countries, all the expenses for the move is tax deduction.

Cruz is a politician, still a believer in the proven failed ecomomic theory of free trade that is unfair to US workers, not a businessman.

I understand you do not agree with my previous posts on unfair trade. However, my opinion of the proposals of the Cruz plan is that it is the same Oh GOP failed plan that did not work before. Why will it work now if Cruz is elected President?

Donald Trump is what Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle would have called a sophist.

Sophists say anything they have to, to get through the moment and all of their arguments are based on logical fallacies, falsehoods or opinions masquerading as the Gospel truth.

Hmm. Sophists were teachers of philosophy, rhetoric and virtue (topics seemingly unfamiliar to Trump). Aristotle complained about them, not for being dishonest, but for charging for their teaching.

As was pointed out to him, he was in a poor position to make such a complaint, as he was teaching the same subject to young Alexander (before he became “The Great”) and Aristotle was getting paid for this.

But “sophist” as a synonym for “liar” strikes me as odd, and I suspect this would have been even more true of Aristotle. Perhaps I am just insufficiently sophisticated.

Trump is perhaps better described as a solipsist. He seems to think that if he says something, it is automatically true and trumps (so to speak) anything that the rest of us would call objective reality. Perhaps he doesn’t really believe that he is lying. But I don’t think so; I don’t give him that much respect.

Donald Trump’s favorite logical fallacies are to attack the person instead of their argument and the appeal to emotion.

For him, this is not a logical mistake, it is an intentionally chosen technique. And perhaps the only one available to him.

I am absolutely dumbfounded that he has such high powered endorsements from the likes of Sarah Palin, Sheriff Arpiao, and Ben Carson.

I thought those people had more sense.

Three very different people, it seems to me, though I completely agree with your reaction. I was in particular saddened by Sarah Palin’s statement and subsequent actions. She has thrown in with a viper, and is showing evidence of growing scales herself. She knows Ted Cruz, and to call him a liar and suggest that he might be a serial philander must weigh heavily on her conscience. And it vastly irritates those of us like me who have defended her past actions at length.

The sheriff is a bit of a wild-ass warrior with a years-old association with his employer Trump. And some of his accusations have been demonstrably untrue, and seemingly known to him when made. Thus, I am less surprised.

Ben Carson has disappointed a lot of people. And this former vessel of the nation’s collective conscience, with his utterly lame and disingenuous defenses of Trump’s past a current actions reflects a very malleable and grossly warped scale of right and wrong. At least we found out about this before electing him.

Herman Cain was a better man, just to pick a name of another sinner at random. Cain made it in the free market; Carson seems to have placed himself up for sale, and was purchased. This admission undercuts a lifetime of extraordinary live-saving skills.

Tax reductions or increases can serve to give incentives for Corporations to act for the common good of the USA..

For example, if you allow a tax deduction to act as an added incentive to deduct all the costs to shut down a US plant and move to a another country, it becomes an added inceentive ffor the Corp to do it.

Failed economic theory? Socialism is a failed economic theory. Capitalism works just fine. What Cruz is proposing comes closer to capitalism than what Trump is proposing.

Taxes and spending are stifling our economy. There are two scenarios:
1. It take decades to dismantle the social/welfare programs the Establishment created to buy votes. We have to start now.
2. The economy collapses and we cannot pay for the social/welfare programs.

Well shoot, I think page 2 got cut off because the link only show the first post by the decidedly predictable socialist Rae and one response by her. Very well done though by the way, you’re fending off the other liberal retards on the post. Do you still maintain this blog?

To me, Donald Trump knows little to nothing about the morality of limited government in creating the best conditions for individuals to live lives free from the heavy thumb of statism and thrive under their own God given talents and abilities. The Donald shows no inclination that he will reduce the size and scope of government, only that he will manage things better and do great deals. Uh huh.

Cruz was not my main choice but I’ve come around and will have no problem voting for him. The man knows the Constitution like nobody’s business and I believe will be a strong advocate for it. Gee, what a concept in an American president….

I completely agree with you on Trump’s inclinations, and Cruz’s knowledge of the constitution.

What is almost worse for Trump and partial-birth abortion is his stated reason for changing his mind: Someone he knows didn’t have an abortion and Trump was impressed by the resulting child.

But even Trump is to the right of Obama, who has advocated for the legality for killing the baby even up to a week or so after the birth. In other words, and words used at the time, before she decides to take the child home from the hospital.

Keith, I think I remember the story about Trump and his friend’s kid. Basically he turned out “ok” so it was all was good that his mom didn’t abort him. What if he was born with a handicap or something else that didn’t make him “ok” in Trump’s eyes, would he still be so impressed?

You’re so right about Obama too. I remember he voted against the Born Alive act which mandates life saving procedures to aborted babies who somehow survive the procedure. He did this as a senator and was STILL elected president. Ugh.

Oh wow, I just watched the video (sorry I know I should have done that before commenting….) and Trump is fervently for keeping partial birth abortion legal. I know this was in 1999 but seriously, that is a huge issue and not something people casually flip on. God help us if this man gets elected.

“I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: as government expands, liberty contracts.” Ronald Reagan.